Central Park Media, often abbreviated as CPM, was an American

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

entertainment company based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York and was headquartered in the 250 West 57th Street building in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

(on the corner of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, hence their name). They were one of the first companies to be active in the distribution of

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea a ...

cinema, television series,

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

, and

manhwa (; ) is the general Korean language, Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to South Korea, South Korean comics. is greatly influenced by Japanese Manga comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its rea ...

titles in North America, notably helping to make

hentai Hentai is anime and manga pornography. A loanword from Japanese, the original term ( ) does not describe a genre of media, but rather an abnormal sexual desire or act, as an abbreviation of . In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exis ...

popular in the region. Over its history, the company licensed several popular titles, such as ''

Slayers is a Japanese light novel series written by Hajime Kanzaka and illustrated by Rui Araizumi. The novels have been serialized in ''Dragon Magazine'' since 1989, before being published into individual volumes. They follow t ...

'', ''

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a series created by Be-Papas, an artist collective founded by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The primary entries in the series include a 1996 manga written by Chiho Saito, a 1997 anime television series directed by Ikuhara, and ''Adolescence of ...

'', the ''

Tokyo Babylon , also known as ''Tokyo Babylon: A Save Tokyo City Story'', is a Japanese manga series created by mangaka group Clamp. The series follows Subaru Sumeragi, the head of the Sumeragi clan, and his sister Hokuto, as they work to protect Tokyo ...

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

s, ''

Project A-ko is a 1986 Japanese action comedy science fiction anime film that had several sequels and a spin-off. This film focuses on a happy-go-lucky 16-year-old red-haired, sailor-suited teenage schoolgirl, A-ko Magami, who goes on her magical adventure ...

'', and ''

Demon City Shinjuku is a novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi that was adapted into an original video animation (OVA) in 1988, directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri. The title has also been translated as ''Hell City Shinjuku'' and ''Monster City''. It was also released as two man ...

''. They had multiple divisions, each of which focused on offering different types of products and services. While a majority of their divisions handled anime and manga distribution, they also offered anime-related

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

and ran a website for UFO conspiracy theorists. The company filed for bankruptcy on April 27, 2009. Since their bankruptcy, many of their former titles have been re-released by other companies.

History

Founding and growth

Central Park Media was founded in 1990 by John O'Donnell as an anime supplier. During its heyday, CPM incorporated ''

MD Geist is an anime and comic book series about a post-apocalyptic world. Geist (the main character) is MD-02, a ''Most Dangerous Soldier'', genetically engineered to function as a killing machine, but every one of the MDS units went homicidally in ...

'' as part of its U.S. Manga Corps logo. Curiosity by anime fans seeing the "corporate spokes mecha" in CPM's titles resulted in ''MD Geist'' becoming one of the company's bestselling titles. In 1996, CPM commissioned ''MD Geist'' creator

Koichi Ohata is a Japanese anime mecha designer, storyboard artist, and director, known for cult classics '' M.D. Geist'', ''Genocyber'', and ''Gunbuster''. He directed ''Burst Angel'' and the second through fourth seasons of ''Ikki Tousen'' anime series. ...

to write and direct a sequel; at the same time, Ohata made a director's cut of the first title, adding new scenes and expanding the storyline. In 1992, CPM – through its Anime 18 division – released '' Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend'', which became the first animated film to be given the

NC-17 The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...

rating. Since its release, ''Urotsukidoji'' has become a cult classic among fans of anime, science fiction and horror genres, while at the same time, being one of the first anime titles to introduce the western public to the

genre. It was released in theaters across the United States in both subtitled and dubbed formats. In the mid-1990s, CPM expanded to distributing

and

through CPM Manga and CPM Manhwa, respectively. CPM Manga also featured adaptations of ''MD Geist'', ''

Armored Trooper Votoms is a Japanese military science fiction mecha anime series produced by Nippon Sunrise, created and directed by Ryosuke Takahashi and featuring mechanical designs by Kunio Okawara. Following directly in the footsteps of Takahashi' ...

'', and ''

'' by American writers and artists. Central Park Media headquarters was in the Fisk Building, located at 250 West 57th Street in

. They started out with just 3,400 square feet, but grew to 7,000 square feet in 1996 and would expand further to 10,000 square feet in January 2000. Through its history, the company has employed numerous figures in the video retail industry like Steven Kramer, Peter Castro, and Tom Reilly. In 2003, John Davis, Allen Rosenberg, and Stacey Santos were hired as account executives.

Financial problems

On May 26, 2006, Central Park Media laid off many of its employees, and rumors erupted that the company was planning to declare bankruptcy, supported by a statement from a representative at the convention Anime Boston. The following Monday, the company's managing director issued a statement acknowledging the lay-offs and attributing the cost-cutting to creditor problems following the January bankruptcy of the

Musicland The Musicland Group, Inc. was an entertainment company that ran Musicland, Sam Goody, Discount Records, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, On Cue, and the Media Play Superstore Chains. The Musicland Group was purchased by Best Buy in 2001 at the he ...

group. The previous year, in 2005, CPM had discontinued its CPM Manga and CPM Manhwa line, also due to monetary problems. But CPM representatives have said that they had relaunched their manga and manhwa lines in January 2006. On March 19, 2007, Japanese yaoi publisher

Libre Libre may refer to: Computing * Libre software, free software * Libre Computer Project, developer of open-hardware single-board computers Medicine *FreeStyle Libre, a glucose monitoring device Media * Libre Times, news site which people can free ...

posted a notice on its website saying that CPM's Be Beautiful division was illegally translating and selling its properties. The titles in question were originally licensed to CPM by Japanese publisher

Biblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 88 ...

, which was bought out by Libre in 2006 after a bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy and liquidation

Central Park Media filed for

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debto ...

on April 27, 2009, and liquidated with a debt of over US$1.2 million. Officially, the company had plans to re-release some older titles in the future. Right up until their bankruptcy, CPM still licensed their anime titles for North American television and VOD distribution, despite having not released anything on home video for over a year. Many of their titles have been shown on the

Sci-Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. ...

, as well as Anime Selects,

AZN Television AZN Television (formerly called International Channel) was a cable TV channel which promoted itself as "the network for Asian America". It was run by International Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. The channel's progra ...

and the

Funimation Channel Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specialize ...

, and were available through iTunes. Some of their titles were also re-licensed by various anime companies, such as ADV Films,

Bandai Entertainment was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and f ...

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retro titles fr ...

, Nozomi Entertainment, and

Media Blasters Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment corporation that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American ...

, and were re-released from 2004 into the present day. Some of their titles were either re-dubbed, such as '' Here Is Greenwood'' and ''

Area 88 is a Japanese manga series by Kaoru Shintani serialized between 1979 and 1986. The story is about a young pilot named Shin Kazama and his experiences at Area 88, a mercenary air force base secluded in the desert of a war-torn country. Sh ...

'' by

and ADV Films, respectively, or have retained the original dub. ''

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film based on a 1967 short story by Akiyuki Nosaka. It was written and directed by Isao Takahata, and animated by Studio Ghibli for Shinchosha Publishing. The film stars , , and . Set in the city o ...

'' was later re-licensed by ADV's successor

and was re-released in 2012. Its website became offline permanently after its closure. The centralparkmedia.com domain was eventually transferred to a New York-based art dealer Atelier VGI several years later.

Distribution

Central Park Media was a key player in popularizing anime, with numerous firsts and promotions designed to introduce various works to American viewers. They were one of the first suppliers to sell anime box sets. In 2002, the first instance of an anime having the storyboards as an alternate viewing option was released on the Collectors Edition of ''

'', more than 2,700 hand drawings synced to the audio tracks. They also focused on increasing TV airings of shows to capitalize on the International Channel, the Encore Channel and the streaming service Cartoon Network short-lived Toonami Reactor website. Anime Test Drive was a promotion that started in 2003 which tested the markets and introduced American's to anime at a discounted rate. It was a way to market titles that may have been viewed as to expensive or inconvenience to purchase separately. Anime Test Drive DVDs offer two episodes of the listed anime series and 45 minutes of trailers. In 2004, Central Park Media introduced Korean animation works into America after the success of the Animatrix, Aeon Flux, and Cubix with the release of Doggy Poo. In 2005, it sub-licensed seven anime titles to the US-based International Channel. It also licensed titles out to the broadband streaming service Movielink. In 2006, Central Park Media licensed some of their works to IGN Entertainment's digital download retail store Direct2Drive. In 2007, Central Park Media licensed out '' Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie'', ''

Roujin Z is a 1991 Japanese animated science fiction action thriller film directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo and written by Katsuhiro Otomo. The animation for ''Roujin Z'' was produced by A.P.P.P. in association with other companies including Movic, Sony ...

'', the ''

Record of Lodoss War is a franchise of fantasy novels by Ryo Mizuno based on the work he originally created for a world called '' Forcelia'' as a rules-free setting for role-playing games (RPGs).Yasuda, Hitoshi. Afterword. . By Ryo Mizuno. Kadoka ...

'' series, the ''

'' series, '' Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer'', and ''

'' to the

. These titles aired on the channel in 2007 before ADV Films took over the rights to ''Grave of the Fireflies'' and the film was streamed on VOD in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Anime Network Anime Network is an American video on demand (VOD) network dedicated to anime owned by AMC Networks. History The network was launched in North America in late 2002 and is marketed to multi system operators (MSOs) as both a free and subscript ...

, following their bankruptcy.

Divisions

Asia Pulp Cinema

Asia Pulp Cinema was CPM's East Asian live-action film distribution division that began in 1999. They were most known for carrying Japanese erotic films, mostly starring actress

Kei Mizutani (born May 7, 1974) is a Japanese actress. She has appeared in multiple photo books, movies, and TV series in Japan and her DVD sets are popular in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Career Mizutani was born in Aomori Prefecture where she wa ...

, and films targeted at admirers of the

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in ''Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorativ ...

subculture, such as the Akihabara Trilogy.

US Manga Corps

US Manga Corps was the main anime distribution division for Central Park Media, catering to middle/high school students and older audiences. The US Manga Corps mascot is from ''

'', from an OVA from the 1980s.

Software Sculptors

Software Sculptors was founded by John Sirabella, Sam Liebowitz, and Henry Lai in 1993, and specialized in anime-related software, such as

screen saver Screen Savers or screensaver or ''variation'', may refer to: * Screensaver, computer programs intended to preserve CRT monitors from "burn-in" ** GNOME ''Screensaver'', GNOME Project's screen blanking tool ** Google Pack ''Screensaver'', a termi ...

s featuring ''

Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 1987 to March 1996, with the chapters collected into 38 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. The st ...

'' and ''

Bubblegum Crisis is a 1987 to 1991 cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by AIC and Artmic. The series was planned to run for 13 episodes, but was cut short to just 8. The series involves the adventures of the K ...

'', as well as releasing anime on

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

. They also released several anime titles, most notably ''

'', ''

'', and ''

Cat Soup is a 2001 Japanese animated short experimental film directed by Tatsuo Satō, based on the manga created by Nekojiru. The surreal film follows Nyata, an anthropomorphic kitten, on his travel to the land of the dead and back in an effort t ...

''. The company was bought by CPM and was turned into one of their division labels. Sirabella stayed on with CPM until 1997, after which he would go on to form

CPM Press

CPM Press (originally CPM Comics, then CPM Manga) was the

and

publication division. Manga titles were published under the label CPM Manga, and manhwa under CPM Manhwa. CPM also had an adult division under CPM Press known as Bear Bear Press, which largely published Americanized versions of some of their Anime 18 releases such as ''

La Blue Girl is an erotic anime and manga series by Toshio Maeda. Like Maeda's other hentai series (''e.g.'', ''Urotsukidōji''), ''La Blue Girl'' features a large amount of tentacle rape. It departs somewhat from its predecessors, however, by lighte ...

''. This division started in 1996 and folded the same year releasing only ''La Blue Girl'' and '' Demon Beast Invasion''. Bear Bear Press was succeeded by Manga 18.

Anime 18

Anime 18 (A18 Corporation) was Central Park Media's distribution division for pornographic anime. Among its releases were

Toshio Maeda is an erotic manga artist who was prolific in the 1980s and '90s. Several of Maeda's works have been used as a basis for original video animations (OVA) including ''La Blue Girl'', ''Adventure Kid'', '' Demon Beast Invasion'', ''Demon Warrior ...

's '' Legend of the Overfiend'' and ''

''. The release of ''Legend of the Overfiend'' was the first

released in America. Anime 18 released its titles under several labels, with the main label – Anime 18 – used for

anime, Manga 18 for manga and manhwa pornography, and Be Beautiful Manga for

yaoi ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features Homoeroticism, homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typi ...

manga. When Central Park Media went bankrupt in 2009, the licenses for some of Anime 18's products and movies were transferred to Critical Mass Video and

Kitty Media Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment corporation that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American ...

Manga 18

Manga 18 was an English-language publisher of pornographic manga and manhwa which was the manga counterpart of Anime 18 and successor to Bare Bear Press.

Be Beautiful Manga

The counterpart of Anime 18 that specialized in yaoi manga. On March 19, 2007, Japanese yaoi publisher Libre announced that Be Beautiful Manga was illegally translating and selling their properties to their original owners.

Below the Radar

Below the Radar was a label that focused on live-action independent and non-mainstream media. Formed in March 2007.

Binary Media Works

Central Park Media's website unit that operated AnimeOne.com, a website that was dedicated to anime fandom, and UFOCity.com, a website that specialized in alien UFO sightings and hosted a community of UFO enthusiasts. It was shut down in 2004.

Productions

Releases are only listed if the subtitling, dubbing, or other production work was handled by Central Park Media; rather than being licensed from prior versions. All of the titles are now published by other companies, if at all, due to Central Park Media's liquidation.

References

External links

Official Website
(Archived) * {{Authority control Anime companies Defunct mass media companies of the United States Dubbing (filmmaking) Manga distributors Manhwa distributors Video production companies Entertainment companies based in New York City Mass media companies based in New York City Mass media companies established in 1990 Mass media companies disestablished in 2009 Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Defunct companies based in New York City 1990 establishments in New York City 2009 disestablishments in New York (state)